Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
The Bessemer quiz bowl poses on the set of WNMU TV13's High School Bowl after its recent semifinal win over Marquette. From left are team members Sydney Wittla-Sprague, Eliza Stone and Devon Byers, tournament host Jim Koski, team member Andy Aspinwall, coach David Rowe and team member Tad Rowe.
By BRYAN HELLIOS
Bessemer - The Bessemer High School quiz bowl team finished runner-up in the WNMU TV13 High School Bowl competition.
According to Dave Rowe, coach for Bessemer, his team battled its way to the finals, but Houghton pulled away in the second half of the championship match, winning 250-130.
"Houghton was able to get more of the toss-ups and the bonuses, and we were not able to catch them," he said.
In the final, the score was 40-40 early on and Houghton led 120-110 at halftime.
Rowe said his team had a good year and credits the players for supporting each other and following up when questions were missed.
The Bessemer team included seniors Andy Aspinwall, Devon Bryers and Sydney Wittla-Sprague, and juniors Tad Rowe and Eliza Stone.
"One of the things that made this year's team so good was that each player had subject areas that they were very knowledgeable and passionate about," said the coach.
Aspinwall was awarded the Dave Goldsmith scholarship for the Outstanding Senior award after completion of the final game. Goldsmith was the host of High School Bowl for 24 years and the award is given by his family in his honor.
The Bessemer team earned a $1,500 scholarship to Northern Michigan University for finishing second in the tournament.
In the 41-year history of the tournament, Bessemer has only made it to the final one other time when it won the annual year-long competition in 2015.
Bessemer's 2018-19 season included wins over Stephenson (160-60), Chassel (220-150), Manistique (390-60) and Marquette (220-140).
Bessemer's last three matches can been seen in the Erudite 8 on March 30 and April 1, the Final 4 on April 6 and April 8; and the final match on April 13 and April 15 - all on WNMU TV 13.
